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Data and Storage

Helius keeps its data on your machine. Everything lives in a single SQLite database file.

Default Database Path​

On Windows, the default location is usually:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Helius\tracker.db

Database Overrides​

You can override the default path in two ways:

  • Pass --db <path> on any command
  • Set the HELIUS_DB_PATH environment variable

Examples:

helius --db C:\Finance\tracker.db balance

$env:HELIUS_DB_PATH = 'C:\Finance\tracker.db'
helius balance

Initialization​

The database is considered uninitialized until the metadata row exists. On first interactive launch, Helius can prompt for a currency code and create the database automatically.

Explicit setup:

helius init --currency USD

Schema Coverage​

The database includes records for:

  • Metadata
  • Accounts
  • Categories
  • Transactions
  • Budgets
  • Recurring rules and occurrences
  • Reconciliations
  • Planning scenarios, planning items, and goals

Pre-Migration Backups​

Before a schema migration runs, Helius writes a copy of the existing database beside the original file.

Backup pattern:

tracker.pre-vFROM-to-vTO.YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS.db